Vice goes right to top, say Catholic victims

By Corey Dade in BostonJuly 30 2002

Mixed reception ... the Pope at Mass in Toronto this week. Photo: AFP

Advocates for victims of sexually abusive priests have complained that comments by the Pope about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal seems to sympathise more with priests than with Roman Catholics who were molested.

After the Pope commented publicly on the crisis for the first time in months, church reformers said they had hoped for a more forceful stand, if not a call for systemic change.

Several other Catholics said his remarks at the World Youth Day rally in Toronto were appropriate, but long overdue.

The Pope told a crowd of more than 800,000 young people that priestly sexual abuse had caused "a deep sense of sadness and shame". He acknowledged some priests had victimised children, but said that most clergy wanted to "serve and do good", and deserved the support of young Catholics. The crowd burst into rousing cheers and applause.

But his words sounded a hollow note among sexual abuse victims and their relatives in the United States, where about 300 of the 46,000 priests have been taken off duty this year because of sex abuse allegations. In Boston, where the scandal has been at its most intense, protesters at a rally said the Pope's remarks were consistent with the church's continued handling of the crisis because it sympathised more with priests than with those abused by them. ");document.write("

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"He's as complicit as the rest of them," said John Harris, 44, who says he was sexually abused by a priest. "The corruption goes right to the top. The Pope ought to resign, too. He's not one of those good priests."

From her home in Boston, Paula Ford said she was pleased the Pope acknowledged the scandal, but that he missed a chance to provide poignant guidance to young Catholics.

"The young people there, they're the future of the church. I think I would have expected a real strong statement of commitment that it would never happen again," said Mrs Ford, whose son is among those who have filed civil lawsuits claiming abuse by a priest.

Phil Saviano, director of the New England chapter of SNAP - Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests - said he was disturbed by the jubilant mood at World Youth Day, wherethe scandal received modest mention.

Mr Saviano said: "These kids have been oblivious to the news coverage and what we victims have been focusing on for so many months ... The message today is: You can take part in covering up a crime and get away with it and still have the respect of thousands and thousands of people."